Method of cleaning wheat.



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No. 67|,s7o. S Il Huma n METHDD 0F CLEANING WHEAT.

(Application led Aug. 17, 1900.)

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METHUD 0F CLEANING WHEAT.

(Application led Aug-17, 1900.)

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NTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL D. HOOLE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND JOHN J.MILLER, OF SAME PLACE.

METHOD OF CLEANING WHEAT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 671,670, dated April 9,1901.

Application filed August 1'7, 1900.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, SAMUEL D. I-IooLn, a citizen of the United States,residing in Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Methods of Cleaning Wheat, ofwhich thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to the preparation of wheat for grinding byremoving the outer covering of the berry and the fuzz or beard, leavingonly the innermost skin; and the invention consists in the method fordoing this, as more fully hereinafter described Vand claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification,Figure l is a vertical longitudinal section of the apparatus forperforming the process. Fig. 2 is lan end elevation of the same, andFig. 3 is an end. elevation showing the other end of the machine.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts in each of the figures.

I have found that if the dry Wheat is first wetted just sufiiciently sothat the moisture will soak through the outer covering and penetrate tothe inner skin, but not through the latter to the flour, the outercovering may be entirely removed, as well as the fuzz or beard, leavingthe berry perfectly clean, including the crease of the berry, by rubbingthe wheat with a stiff elastic brush made of such material that it willnot scratch the said inner skin; and I employ for the brush and find itentirely suitable and satisfactory a material known in the market asmonkeybast. I do not know what this material is nor Where it comes from,beyond this, that it seems to be a sort of wood liber of a hard,tenacious, and elastic construction,and of reddishbrown and blackcolors, perhaps a little harder than and not quite so elastic asordinary Whalebone. When the moistened Wheat is rubbed with Vthe ends ofa mass of such fibrous material, the outer covering and allimpurities-Will be easily and quickly removed from the berry as shreds'or flakes and thin fragments and dust, leaving the berry per fectlyclean, including the crease of the berry, and in the case of White wheatof a pearlywhite color.

In practicing my method I take dry wheat and sprinkle the same withWater sufcient Serial No. 27,145. (Specimens.)

to Wet the outside of all the berries thor oughly, then stir the mass toinsure an even distribution of the moisture, then at once begin thebrushing, as two to five minutes is long enough for the Water topenetrate into the covering of the berry as deeply as is re quired, andthen separate the clean berries from the chaif and detritus removed fromit, and the cleaned berry is then properly tempered as to moisture andmay be ground at once in the usual manner, being exactly in the bestcondition for grinding, and moreover containing all of its constituentsWhich are of any valueas food, the portion removed being utterlyvalueless as food.

The foregoing general statement may perhaps be easier coinprehended andbetter understood when taken in connection with the apparatus shown inthe drawings, which is the best form of apparatus known to me with whichto practice my method, and I shall therefore describe said mechanism inconnection with the method.

In said drawings, A is a feed-spout for feeding the Wheat to theapparatus. This spout may lead directly from a bin or granary Where thedry wheat is kept or stored and is shown as being inclined at an angleto the horizon. The bottom of this spout is preferably perforated ormade of Wire-netting, as at B, and leading into the spout above thenetting is a sprinkler-pipe C, from which Water sprinkles continuallyupon the wheat flowing through the spout. A valve (not shown) mayregulate the amount of water delivered to the grain. The excess of waterbeyond what Will cling to the grain ows down and out through the nettingB. t From the spout Athe Wheat,now with Water clinging to the outside ofthe berries, runs into the receiving hopper or funnel D, which in theexample machine illustrated is designed to hold about four bushels.Below the hopper is a stirring-chamber consisting of a cylindricalchamber E, provided with a shaft F, having a series of blades F', ar-

ranged to operate as a screw conveyerwhen l'OO one bushel per minute,which it will be seen would leave the wheat in contact with the moistureand water about four minutes. is the exit-spout from thisstirring-chamber, and it leads to the brush directly. The brush is shownat H. It consists of a tapering circular body provided with the bristlesh, made preferably on m on key-bast fiber. This tapering circular brushis mounted on and continuously rotated by a shaft and is inclosed in acircular tapering chamber J, the sides of which, J', are formed ofwire-netting, and the tip ends of the brush come nearly to said netting.The purpose of making the brush and its chamber of a tapering or conicalform is to give opportunity for adjustment for wear as the brush wearsout. The'shaft carrying the brush is shown as being mounted at one endin a fixed bearing, through which it vmay slide endwise, and at theother end in a movable bearing which may be adj usted by a screw, therebeing collars on the shaft at each side of this movable bearing. Byturning the screw the conical brush may be set in or out of its conicalchamber as it wears. The moist wheat fed into this brush'is carriedaround and around and delivered at the outer end entirely den uded ofall of its outer coverings and beard or fuzz down to the inner skin bythe action of the elastic wood fiber or monkey-bast. From the brush thecleaned wheat falls into the final spout K, whence, if in propercondition as to moisture, it may be conveyed directly to thegrinding-rolls or millstones. The fuzz or beard and the smallerfragments of shell cling to the wirenetting of the brush chamber andpass through its interstices into the dust-spoutL. The larger fragmentsof coating or shell pass out with the cleaned wheat to the exit of thebrush-chamber, where they are caught up by a suction-current throughtrunk fm, caused by the air-fan N, and delivered at a separate point.The wire-netting-sided brush-chamber is mounted so that it will revolvealso, as well as the brush it contains. In the example illustrated thedirection ot' revolution of the chamber is the same direction as that ofthe brush, but at a much slower speed, the relative speeds being in thisinstance as fifteen to two hundred. The purpose of giving a revolvingmotion to this chamber is to cause its various portions to come oneafter another underneath, so that the fine material caught in the meshesof the netting Vmay fall out. The construction shown in the drawings,whereby this capacity of revolution is given and the motion imparted tosaid chamber, consists in a hollow bearing at each end of said chamber,and this may be furnished with small friction-rollersj, upon which theweight of the conical chamber rests, and to the smaller end of the conea rag wheel or gear connected by a chain to the moving mechanism givesthe revolving motion required.

The gearing of the machine shown in the drawings may be traced asfollows: M is the driving-pulley, mounted on the main or brush shaft anddriving the brush. At the other end this shaft carries a pulley M',connected by a belt M2 to the shaft M3 of the fan. Also on this samemain shaft is mounted the small rag-pinion M4, geared by a chain to theshort counter-shaft M5, which carries at one end the rag-pinion M6,connected by chain M7 to the rag-wheel M8 on the shaft F of thestirring-chamber conveyer and carries at the other end the rag-pinionM10, connected by the chain M11 to the rag-wheel M12 on the revolvingbrush-chamber.

I claim- 1. The method or process of treating wheat in preparation forgrinding the same, which consists in first moistening the wheat withWater and permitting the water to remain in contact with the wheat until'the outer coverings of the berry, down to the inner skin, have becomemoist, which will be in a few minutes; second, rubbing the outsidecoverings from the wheat, including the crease of the berry, down to theinner skin, by contact with a brush-surface formed of elastic materialwhich is adapted to remove all the moistened outer covering andimpurities from the berry, but not to penetrate the surface ofthe innerskin, and, third, separating the removed material from the cleanedberries, substantially as specified.

2. The method or process of treating wheat in preparation for grindingthe same, which consists in iirst moistening the Wheat with water andpermitting the water to remain in contact with the wheat until the outercoverings of the berry down to the inner skin have become n1oist,whichwill be in a few minutes; second rubbing the outside coverings from thewheat including the crease of the berry down to the inner skin bycontact with elastic material in the for-m of a brush composed ofmonkey-bast which will not scratch or destroy said inner skin, and thirdseparating the removed material from the cleaned berries, substantiallyas specified.

3. The method or process of treating wheat in preparation for grindingthe same, which consists in first moistening the wheat with water andpermitting the water to remain in contact with the wheat until the outercoverings of the berry down to the inner skin have become moist, whichwill be in a few minutes; second rubbing the outside coverings from thewheat including the crease of the berry down to the inner skin bycontact with elastic material in the form of a brush composed ofmonkey-bast which will not scratch or destroy said inner skin; and thirdseparating the removed material from the cleaned berries, the separationbeing eected by sifting and an air-blast, substantially as specified.

SAMUEL D. HOOLE.

Witnesses: Y

H. M. MUNDAY, L; E. CURTIS.

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